What Kills a Church?

Hello Family!

It has been a while, since I've posted, but since then my wife has undergone a kidney transplant (the kidney was donated by her sister) and they are both on their way back to regular lives!  Thank you Jesus!  I just had to get that in there, because every chance I get, I'm thanking God for his blessings.  OK, on to the topic for the day.

It's odd that last night I spoke to my uncle and he was telling me how their church was pretty much closing its doors.  So, this morning I was driving into work and I was listening to a pastor on the radio talking about what kills a church.  Ironic?  It could be, but I beg to differ.  He was talking about how some churches die and how the idea is not new - it has been happening since the New Testament.  He went on to say that churches do not die because of outside influences.  They die because of the members or from within.  As an example of how outside influences affect a church, he used the the church at Smyrna.  The church received the most persecution from being so close to Rome, but yet it's members came together and it grew into one of the most flourishing churches (see Revelation 2:8-11).

Now this made me go hmmmm.  What in the world could kill a church from the inside? I mean all the members are suppose to be the church right?  They are all saved and sanctified Christians, how could that possibly happen?  Let's look at Romans 12:4-5.  It says,

(4) Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, (5) so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

The church is a body made up of many people and those individuals possess different talents and purposes.  As long as everyone is doing what they are suppose to do as an individual, contributing to the body, then the church can flourish.  The moment that the many members start to waver or if they lose fire for Christ, the church is doomed.  There could be many reasons for this wavering, but it doesn't matter because they have lost their focus.  If you lose a member of your body, other members will try to compensate for that loss, but if you start to lose many members then the body becomes in-effective for its purpose.  It's from the inside out that a church perishes and it can only look within and to its members to realize what happened.

Be blessed gang!

Regards,

Antoine E. Hall

Blog:   http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall

"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." - 2 Samuel 22:33

Read More

After the Music Stops

After the show, after the set, after the music stops what's next?
Will there be fellowship, prayer, disciples, will you open your bibles after the music stops.
After it's over, after it ends, after the music stops, what then?
Will you understand that Christ is King? Or will you just like the words we sing after the music stops.

These are the lyrics by Lacrae's, "After the Music Stops".  He is one of many Christian Rappers/Ministers out there reaching the masses through music.  One thing that intrigues me about this is that we, all listen to music in church.  Sometimes it is foot-stomping music.  Sometimes it is hand-clapping music.  Sometimes it is slow head-bobbing music.  Sometimes it might be a combination of all three and then some.

At any rate, we can be some emotional people and music has a way of moving and touching us.  Sometimes, I wonder if it is the moment or is it really reaching our hearts.  Are we really latching on to the contents of the music and going to the Word to learn more or is it just a moment?  At the end of the day and after music is done are you changed or do you just like the words that were sang after the music stopped?

One of those things that makes you go hmmmmm......

Regards,

Antoine E. Hall

Blog:   http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall

"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." - 2 Samuel 22:33

Read More

Check-in At Night

A few nights ago, I went into the kids room to check on them.  What parent does not go check on their kids before they go to bed right?  My daughter moved, opened her eyes to look at me, rolled over and mumbled something to me.  Then at that moment, I had a flash back from when I was a child.  I still have vague memories of waking up in the middle of the night to have one my parents standing over me. 

Just in that instance, I realized that I was performing an action that had been done to me as a child.  It is amazing what you remember and it sometimes shocks my Mom of what I can remember.  She will sometimes say, "You remember that? You were just a little boy".  The good thing is that I remembered and I feel comfortable knowing that my children will have the same memories of my wife and I tucking them in late at night.

As adults, we have the memories of our parents, but no one comes to check in on us at night - well at least not in the physical.  Now we have a Father who is in heaven who checks in on us as parents.  In the morning when I wake up, I can know that it was God who took care and watched over me through the night.  For me, it feels good to know that even as an adult someone is still looking over you, no matter where you lay your head at night.

May the Lord continue to watch over each of you and may His grace and mercy continue to be sufficient throughout your day.

Be easy folks.

Regards,

Antoine E. Hall

Blog:   http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall

"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." - 2 Samuel 22:33

Read More

Knowing Price of Everything & Value of Nothing

A playwright, poet, and author by the name of Oscar Wilde once said, "What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing."  There are different variations on this quote, but the key part of it is "__________ knows the price of everything and the value of nothing."  Today I want to fill in this blank with the phrase the church.

You may ask, how is it that you know the price of everything but do not know its value?  Aren't the two the same?  Well, no...they are not.   It is a marketing site, but KnowThis.com gives a good definition of the two.  It says that "value refers to the perception of benefits received for what someone must give up".  The price is "what someone gives up".  As people, we shop all the time and we pay the price for many things.  A lot of the times we tend to purchase items without even thinking the benefit to us.  Most of the time, we go off of emotions or because it has been marketed to you very well.  Besides, the purpose of marketing is to convince you that the product being up-sold is something that you need.

If you have ever stepped foot in a church, then you should at least have a clue that its goal is to market and sell Jesus Christ to you.  I don't mean to put it in such a light way, but it is essentially what is done.  You are told that Jesus is the best thing that can happen to you.  For someone who is saved, He is the best thing that HAS happened to you.  Why?  Well, it is because "....Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:3) and He paid a price he did not owe.  Christ was born into a sinful world, but He was not born into sin.  He did not have to pay the price for our sin, but He did!

The church understands this price, but I think a good majority of the people fall short of understanding the benefit and value other than a good Easter Sunday Morning service.  Our benefit is that we get to have eternal life (John 3:16) and we are free from the old Mosaic law.  We relate to things we can understand through our senses.  If we could imagine what eternal life with the Father in Heaven would be like, we would appreciate the true value of Jesus' death.  If we had lived under the old Mosaic Law, we would have a great appreciation for the freedom that we have because of His death and resurrection.  The good news is that the good news (the gospel) is there for our consumption.  The more we read His Word and understand it and become more closer to God, the more we will understand the value of His death.  Being a church attender on Sunday's doesn't make you know the true value - being animate about the Word does.

Be blessed gang and have a good one.

Regards,

Antoine E. Hall

Blog:   http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall

"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." - 2 Samuel 22:33

Read More

How Fruit Is Made

As you may (or may not) know, I started a garden last year for the first time in my life.  I have always had an interest in planting seeds and watching them grow, so after years of talking about it, I finally did it.  As I learned, you have to constantly "tend to" gardens: watering, pulling weeds, fending off animals, fighting bugs, etc.  I have to tell you it was one of the most rewarding experiences I have had!  It was hard work, but still very rewarding!

Because I was out of work at the time, I got the opportunity to spend a lot of time working in the garden.  Every day at different times, I could be found with my head pressed against the window just starring at the plants as if I could see a change before my eyes.  Over the course of a few months, I watched seeds grow into plants (some into trees) and watched fruit and vegetables be produced.

According to the Free Online Diction, fruit is:

The ripened ovary of a flowering plant that contains the seeds, sometimes fused with other parts of the plant.

If you remember back to science class, the plant has to go through pollination in order for the fruit or the seed bearing part of the plant to be produced.  This is where our bumble bees and the wind come into play.  Pollen from one part of the plant has to be taking to another part in order for pollination to occur.  (As I found out with Watermelon, if it is dry and no wind, you may have to take a brush and hand pollinate the plants!).

I went into a little detail about how fruit are produced because as Christians, we have the possibility of producing fruit as well.  In Galatians 5:22-23, it says,

(22) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (23) gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

We are just like plants, but in order for us to become fruit bearing we must take care of ourselves just like a garden.  We have to be nurtured to the point where we grow and can produce flowers. We need the flowers so that we can allow for pollination to occur within ourselves.

How do we grow and stay a well-maintained disciple for the Lord?  We grow through the reading and the filling of ourselves with the Word of God.  As we open up to what God has for us, we can be pollinated so that we might produce the fruit of the spirit.

We all have the potential to be fruit bearers.  We just have to stay vigilant and take care of ourselves physically and spiritually.   Keep yourself encouraged and do not turn yourself from the ways of the Lord.  I think the Message puts Galatians 5:22-23 into a way we can really grasp it:

22-23 But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.

Be blessed and be a fruit bearer!

Regards,

Antoine E. Hall

Blog:   http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall

"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." - 2 Samuel 22:33

Read More

Come, O Lord (Maranatha)

Good Morning Folks,

I hope that you are doing well at the reading of this message.  Today, I do not want to keep your attention long, but I do want to direct it to 1 Corinthians 16:22.  In the King James Version, it says:

If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.

If you have ever run across this verse in the Bible you may have been confused by the last two words.  In an effort to help reading and understanding the Word of God we have to understand some of the vocabulary and meanings just like we did when in school.  I did not intend to define the word Anathema, but since I'm here, I will cover it as well.

Anathema:  In the NIV, this word is translated to "a curse be on him".  According to Dictionary.com, it also means "a person or thing detested or loathed".

Maranatha:  If you look on Biblegateway.com under the NIV version, you will find that the word Maranatha means "Come, Oh Lord."  This was an Aramaic expression used by early Christians.  For more information, read the following link in Wikipedia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maranatha.

Now, if you put it all together the scripture tells you that if any man does not love Jesus Christ, then a curse is on them.  I imagine Maranatha is almost said with a shout to welcome the Lord to Come and/or to Return.

I hope this has helped someone because understanding definitions is apart of our every day living.

Regards,

Antoine E. Hall

Blog:   http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall

"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." - 2 Samuel 22:33

Read More

Belief vs Faith

Hello Everyones, Everyones.

I hope that you all are doing well this fine Monday.  The weekend went by way too fast for me, however, I am happy to see another day and blessed to have a job in which to go.  Being out of work for just over 8 months changes your whole perspective on griping about having to get up to go to work!

Even though the weekend went by fast, I caught several televised sermons on Sunday.  One of the people I watched was Dr. Fred K.C. Price from Crenshaw Christian Faith Center.  I caught the second half of the sermon, however, in it he talked about faith and how we synonymously use it with the word belief. At this point, he had my attention, because I thought believing and having faith was one in the same.  Dr. Price went through a couple of examples to illustrate his point and I will try to recall them here for you.

In his first point, he told those who drove to church that upon leaving to take their keys in their right hand.  Next, he told them to stand on the hold of their car and scream to the top of the lungs, "THIS IS MY CAR! I BELIEVE THAT I AM GOING TO PUT MY KEY IN THE IGNITION, START THE CAR AND DRIVE HOME" (this may not be exact, but I have captured the point).  The problem with this is that it is very true, however, you can stand on top of your car screaming until the cows come home.  Until you get off your hood and physically get into your car, start it up and go home, all you have done is believed.  The act of getting into the car and doing what you said you believe is faith (hence, James 2:20)!

The difference is so subtle that you miss it, however, the fact that we miss it can convolute our understanding of both belief and faith.  The two work hand-in-hand and cannot be separated, but at the same time they are different.  This leads to Dr. Price's next illustration.  He said look at a US coin.  On one side you have heads.  On the other side you have tails.  In order for it to be considered legal tender in this country it must have both the heads and tails.  If either one of the sides were to be rubbed off, anyone has the right to refuse the coin as legal tender.  After all, it is not complete with a heads and tails.  This is the same with faith and belief.  God put them both together and in us we have a coin with faith on one side and belief on the other.  Neither can co-exist without the other and thus gives us the "legal-tender" to do "business" with the Lord!

Now, I wish I could have read that in scripture and came up with this all by myself, however, I did not LOL.  What I do feel though is that this was too good of information not to share with you all, so I hope this has helped you as much as it has myself.

Be blessed and have a good one folks!

Regards,

Antoine E. Hall

Blog:   http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall

"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." - 2 Samuel 22:33

Read More